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<h1>Using Adverbs and Gobi</h1>

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<center><span class="summary">Outline</span></center>
<ol>
<li><a href="#part1">Why adverbs and gobi?</a></li>
<li><a href="#part2">Properties of Adverbs</a></li>
<li><a href="#part3">What's a "gobi"?</a></li>
<li><a href="#part4">The 「ね」 gobi</a></li>
<li><a href="#part5">The 「よ」 gobi</a></li>
<li><a href="#part6">Combining both to get 「よね」</a></li>
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<h2 id="part1">Why adverbs and gobi?</h2>
Well, the two are not related to each other but I have decided to group them in one lesson because we will be covering only the two most
common gobi for now and it is too short to be a separate lesson in itself.

<h2 id="part2">Properties of Adverbs</h2>
Unlike English, changing adjectives to adverbs is a very simple and straightforward process.  In addition, since the system of particles make
sentence ordering flexible, adverbs can be placed anywhere in the clause that it applies to
long as it comes <i>before</i> the verb that it refers to.  As usual, we have two separate rules: one for i-adjectives, and one for na-adjectives.

<div class="sumbox">
<span class="summary">How to change an adjective to an adverb</span>
<ul>
<li>i-adjectives: Substitute the 「い」 with 「く」.
<br />例） <span title="はやい - fast, early" class="popup">早</span><em>い</em> → <span title="はやい - fast, early" class="popup">早<em>く</em></span></li>
<li>na-adjectives: Attach the target particle 「に」.
<br />例） <span title="きれい - pretty, neat" class="popup">きれい</span> → <span title="きれい - pretty, neat" class="popup">きれい</span><em>に</em></li>
</ul>
</div>

<p>（１）　ボブは<span title="あさごはん - breakfast" class="popup">朝ご飯</span>を<em><span title="はやい - fast, early" class="popup">早く</span></em><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べた</span>。- Bob quickly ate breakfast.
<br />The adverb 「<span title="はやい - fast, early" class="popup">早く</span>」 is a little different from the English word 'fast' in that it can mean quickly in terms of speed <i>or</i> time.  In other words,
Bob may have eaten his breakfast early or he may have eaten it quickly depending on the context.  In other types of sentences such as 「<span title="はやい - fast, early" class="popup">早く</span><span title="はしる - to run" class="popup">走った</span>」, it is quite obvious that it probably means quickly and not early.  (Of course this
also depends on the context.)
</p>

<p>（２）　アリスは<span title="じぶん - oneself" class="popup">自分</span>の<span title="へや - room" class="popup">部屋</span>を<em><span title="きれい - pretty, neat" class="popup">きれい</span>に</em><span title="する - to do" class="popup">した</span>。- Alice did her own room toward clean.
<br />The literal translation kind of gives you a sense of why the target particle is used.  There is some argument against calling this an adverb at all
but it is convenient for us to do so because of the grouping of i-adjectives and na-adjectives.  Thinking of it as an adverb, we can interpret the
sentence to mean: "Alice did her room cleanly." or less literally: "Alice cleaned her room."  （「<span title="きれい - pretty, neat" class="popup">きれい</span>」 literally means "pretty" but if it helps,
you can think of it as, "Alice prettied up her own room."）
</p>

<p>Note: Not all adverbs are derived from adjectives.  Some words like 「<span title="ぜんぜん - completely, not at all" class="popup">全然</span>」 and 「<span title="たくさん - a lot" class="popup">たくさん</span>」
are adverbs in themselves without any conjugation. These words can be used without particles just like regular adverbs.
<br />（１）　<span title="えいが - movie" class="popup">映画</span>を<em><span title="たくさん - a lot" class="popup">たくさん</span></em><span title="みる - to see" class="popup">見た</span>。- Saw a lot of movies.
<br />（２）　<span title="さいきん - lately" class="popup">最近</span>、<em><span title="ぜんぜん - completely, not at all" class="popup">全然</span></em><span title="たべる - to eat" class="popup">食べない</span>。- Lately, don't eat at all.
</p>

<p>Let's look at more examples of adverb usage.
<br />（１）　ボブの<span title="こえ - voice" class="popup">声</span>は、<em><span title="けっこう - fairly" class="popup">結構</span></em><span title="おおきい - large" class="popup">大きい</span>。 - Bob's voice is <em>fairly</em> large.
<br />（２）　<span title="この - this" class="popup">この</span><span title="まち - town" class="popup">町</span>は、<span title="さいきん - lately" class="popup">最近</span><em><span title="おおきい - large" class="popup">大きく</span></em><span title="かわる - to change" class="popup">変わった</span>。- This town had changed <em>greatly</em> lately.
<br />（３）　<span title="としょかん - library" class="popup">図書館</span>の<span title="なか - inside" class="popup">中</span>では、<em><span title="しずか - quiet" class="popup">静か</span>に</em><span title="する - to do" class="popup">する</span>。- Within the library, [we] do things <em>quietly</em>.
</p>

<h2 id="part3">What's a "gobi"?</h2>
In this section, we will cover the two most commonly used gobi.  「語尾」 literally means "language tail" and it simply refers to
anything that comes at the end of a sentence or a word.  In this guide, I will use it to describe the one or two hiragana characters that always come at the end
of sentences due to the lack of better terminology.  These endings are often very hard to explain because many do not actually have a
specific meaning.  But they can change the 'sound' or 'feel' of a sentence and add some zest and pep to the sentence.  The two we will
cover here do have meanings and they are used quite often.

<h2 id="part4">The 「ね」 gobi</h2>
People usually add 「ね」 to the end of their sentence when they are looking for (and expecting) agreement to what they are saying.  This is equivalent
to saying, "right?" or "isn't it?" in English.

<h3>Example 1</h3>
ボブ：　<span title="いい - good" class="popup">いい</span><span title="てんき - weather" class="popup">天気</span>だ<em>ね</em>。- Good weather, <em>huh</em>?
<br />アリス：　<span title="そう - that is so" class="popup">そう</span><em>ね</em>。- That is so, <em>isn't it</em>?
<br />The literal translation of 「<span title="そう - that is so" class="popup">そう</span>ね」 sounds a bit odd but it basically means something like, "Sure is".  Males would probably say, 「<span title="そう - that is so" class="popup">そう</span>だね」.

<h3>Example 2</h3>
アリス：　<span title="おもしろい - interesting" class="popup">おもしろい</span><span title="えいが - movie" class="popup">映画</span>だった<em>ね</em>。- That was interesting movie, <em>wasn't it</em>?
<br />ボブ：　え？<span title="ぜんぜん - completely, not at all" class="popup">全然</span><span title="おもしろい - interesting" class="popup">おもしろくなかった</span>。- Huh? No, it wasn't interesting at all.
<br />Since Alice is expecting agreement that the movie was interesting Bob is surprised because he didn't find the movie interesting at all. (「え」 is a
sound of surprise and confusion.)

<h2 id="part5">The 「よ」 gobi</h2>
When 「よ」 is attached to the end of a sentence, it means that the speaker is informing the listener of something new.  In English, we might say this
with a, "You know..." such as the sentence, "You know, I'm actually a genius."

<h3>Example 1</h3>
アリス：　<span title="じかん - time" class="popup">時間</span>が<span title="ある - to exist (inanimate)" class="popup">ない</span><em>よ</em>。- <em>You know</em>, there is no time.
<br />ボブ：　<span title="だいじょうぶ - ok" class="popup">大丈夫だ</span><em>よ</em>。- It's ok, <em>you know</em>.


<h3>Example 2</h3>
アリス：　<span title="きょう - today" class="popup">今日</span>は<span title="いい - good" class="popup">いい</span><span title="てんき - weather" class="popup">天気</span>だね。- Good weather today, huh?
<br />ボブ：　<span title="うん - yeah" class="popup">うん</span>。<span title="でも - but" class="popup">でも</span>、<span title="あした - tomorrow" class="popup">明日</span><span title="あめ - rain" class="popup">雨</span>が<span title="ふる - to precipitate" class="popup">降る</span><em>よ</em>。- Yeah.  But it will rain tomorrow, <em>you know</em>.


<h2 id="part6">Combining both to get 「よね」</h2>
You can also combine the two gobi we just learned to create 「よね」. This is essentially used when you want to inform the listener of some new point you're trying to
make and when you're seeking agreement on it at the same time. When combining the two, the order must always be 「よね」. You cannot reverse the order.

<h3>Example</h3>
アリス：　ボブは、<span title="さかな - fish" class="popup">魚</span>が<span title="すき - like" class="popup">好き</span>なんだ<em>よね</em>。- <em>You know</em>, you like fish, <em>dontcha</em>?
<br />ボブ：　<span title="そう - that is so" class="popup">そう</span>だね。- That is so, <em>huh</em>?

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<div class="small" style="text-align:right;"><pre>This page has last been revised on 2005/1/8</pre></div>

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